A few AI tools worth considering for streamlining your workflows

With the rapid developments we’re seeing with AI, it's no surprise that this technology is starting to have a significant impact on podcasters and their work. From speech-to-text transcription to AI-powered audio editing tools, AI is changing the game for producers. Now it’s easier than ever before to create high-quality content in a fraction of the time it used to take.

In fact, by the time this goes to print, AI and podcasting could have moved ahead by leaps and bounds. That said, the current role of AI in content creation for podcasting is to simplify and streamline the production process, making it easier and faster for podcasters to focus on creating high-quality content. That’s the good news.

On the other side, some are worried about AI completely taking over the podcasting space, getting rid of flesh-and-blood hosts and creating a sterilized podspace where everything sounds polished, but the human connection vanishes.

We’re not there yet, and podcasters who can afford it should consider taking advantage of some of the AI tools right now that offer things like speech-to-text transcription, audio editing software, and even podcast hosting and distribution platforms. These all save time and energy – I myself would have killed for a transcription service back when I was a radio reporter. The simplified workshop could, potentially, allow producers to focus on the content side of things, and that’s what most of us want.

However, these tools are not cheap, and that’s a big criticism as they are only available to those with sufficient financial resources. Paul McNally put together this very short list of a few AI tools for podcasters that you might consider checking out. Prices could come down in the future, but right now, they’re fee-based with some very limited free versions.

Descript

This platform started out as a transcription tool that also had artificial voices. Now it’s expanding its wheelhouse and now describes itself as “the only tool you need to write, record, transcribe, edit, collaborate, and share your videos and podcasts”. Its editing features take a different approach from traditional editors like Audacity or Audition and you edit audio and video like you would a Word document  Main features are transcription, overdub, clip creation, screen capture, filler word removal and script generation. Descript is making a name for being the premier AI podcast editor. 

Pricing is tiered: Free, 12 USD/month, 24 USD/month

Adobe Podcast AI

The people behind Audition want to be the go-to place for cleaning up your audio, and removing noise and echo. Adobe Podcast's AI claims to make voice recordings sound as if they were recorded in a professional studio, even if they were not. They say you get professional sound without professional equipment (like a blanket over a suitcase). They also offer an editing approach like Descript and have a catalog of royalty-free music available.

Price: Free, limited version and Express Premium (part of Creative Cloud which is 35.99 USD per month). But contact Adobe for more information. They aren’t extremely transparent about pricing.

ElevenLabs

This tool is pretty top-notch for voice generation. The voices Eleven Labs generates are beautiful. They should be: the founders’ original motivation was to create better voice dubbing in If you can’t speak and you need to make a podcast. Eleven Labs’ Speech Synthesis has hundreds of artificially generated voices for nearly any accent, age, and gender you can imagine. You just add the text. Their voice library features 29 languages right now and more are surely coming. Some are tagged with qualities such as “Calm” or “Hyped.”

Price: Tiered – free, 5 USD/month, 22 USD/month, 99 USD/month

For a much more extensive list, go over to our friends at The Podcast Host and check out what tools they’ve been looking at.